Sunday, January 16, 2011

Celebrate Healthy Weight Week: Jan 16-22


by Shelly Guzman, RD, CD

Healthy Weight Week is an annual event to celebrate lifelong healthy living habits that prevent eating and weight issues. I love the Healthy Weight Week mantra: "Our bodies cannot be shaped at will. But we can all be accepting, healthy and happy at our natural weights." It sounds so simple, and yet as many of us know, it is not easy to accept our bodies in a beauty-centric society. As someone who has struggled with an eating disorder in the past, I believe the hardest lesson in learning to lead a healthy life is figuring out how to be kind to yourself. While it is good to expect the best of ourselves in life's endeavors, we must be careful not to punish ourselves for imperfection. Sometimes, it just takes letting go of the reigns and having a little faith that things will turn out all right. For me, I realized what I was losing by clinging to my eating disorder. Life was going on all around me and I was missing out. My motto became "get over yourself", which sounds harsh, but in reality just meant I started volunteering so that I could see how other people lived. Meeting people who I thought had so much less than me live life joyously everyday gave me the courage to face my fears and start accepting myself. Choosing to be healthy has become easier and easier, and when I find myself slipping into old bad habits, I remind myself that nothing makes me feel better than making healthy choices that nourish my body and spirit. My advice to others struggling with body image issues is to have no fear, you hold the key to your happiness. Do your homework, because what they say is true, knowledge is power. Learn about what is best for your body, what works and what doesn't (like fad diets). Seek help if you need it, and let's face it, who doesn't need a little help sometimes? In the words of Bob Greene, live your best life!

To learn more about Healthy Weight Week and how you can get involved, visit their website.




Saturday, January 1, 2011

How to Make New Year’s Resolutions and Stick With Them



by Shelly Guzman, RD, CD

New year’s resolutions are notorious for being broken. If every year you fail achieve your resolutions, chances are you aren’t setting realistic goals. So your natural response might be to avoid making resolutions all together to avoid the bad feelings that come from this failure. Research suggests, however, that a readiness and self efficacy to change may increase your chances and success of actually changing. A study conducted by researchers at University of Scranton found that successful resolvers employed significantly more behavioral strategies and less self-blame and wishful thinking than unsuccessful resolvers. In other words, be kind to yourself when you mess up and reward yourself when you stick to your goals.

Often times, a new year’s resolution should in fact be a lifestyle resolution. Meaning instead of resolving to lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks, you should focus on making goals that will help you to reduce your weight overtime but will also give you the tools to maintain it by improving your eating and exercise habits. For example, I resolve to try one new vegetable a month or I resolve to walk 30 minutes 5 days a week. Baby steps - breaking your larger goals into smaller, more manageable objectives - can be the key to your success! Be sure to re-visit your resolutions periodically throughout the year to assess your progress, make modifications, or set new resolutions. Involve a trusted friend or family member and support each other in your quest to make positive changes.

Check out this great
article for tips on how to increase your chances of sticking to your resolutions.

From all of us at Momentum Nutrition & Fitness, we wish you a
healthy and prosperous 2011!